THE 

CENtENARY OF 
THE WISTAR PARTY 

AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS 

BY , 

HAMPTON L. CARSON, Esq. 

Delivered by Appointment in the Hall of the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania, May 4th, 1918 



WITH the 



ROLL OF MEMBERS 
1818-1918 



PHILADELPHIA 
PRINTED FOR THE WISTAR ASSOCIATION 
1918 



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THE 

CENTENARY OF 
THE WISTAR PARTY 

AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS 



BY 

HAMPTON L? CARSON, Esq. 



Delivered by Appointment in the Hall of the Historical 
Society of Pennsylvania, May 4th, 1918 



WITH the 



ROLL OF MEMBERS 

1818-1918 



» • > 

■» 1 B 



PHILADELPHIA 

PRINTED FOR THE WISTAR ASSOCIATION 
1918 






PRESS OF 

THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY 

LANCASTER, PA. 






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ADDRESS. 



Fellow Members and Guests: 

This evening's gathering commemorates the Cen- 
tenary of the Wistar Party, a purely voluntary asso- 
ciation of twenty-four gentlemen, without a charter, 
without a club house, without even a club room or 
club possessions, but held together by the mysterious 
and potent charm of a distinguished name, and a 
fixed rule that eligibility to membership requires 
an existing membership in The American Philo- 
sophical Society. With no purpose save that of 
genial hospitality to citizen and stranger, depend- 
ing for its expression upon purely private household 
entertainment, extended in turn by a single host, 
subject to the simplest rules, the Association has 
exerted a quiet but definite influence upon the intel- 
lectual and social life of Philadelphia. It has be- 
come an institution without being an institute. Its 
charm is as subtle as the fragrance of the Wisteria, 

1 



2 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

that glorious climbing shrub of our gardens, which, 
though an exotic, was named by Nuttall, the eminent 
English botanical explorer, in his Genera of North 
American Plants, in honor of our patron saint, but 
with inattention to the spelling of his name. 

It requires but a simple analysis to explain the 
tie which binds the Wistar Party to The American 
Philosophical Society. That Society, whose repu- 
tation among the learned is world-wide, whose 
treasures are priceless, whose annual meetings are 
significant events in scientific, literary, and profes- 
sional circles, was the result of the union in 1769 of 
Franklin's Junto (which dated back to 1727 and 
was subsequently known as The American Society 
Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowl- 
edge), with The American Philosophical Society 
which had been founded by Franklin in 1743. Its 
first President was Franklin, its second, the foremost 
of American astronomers, David Rittenhouse, and 
its third was Thomas Jefferson, who was much 
given to scientific pursuits. Jefiferson held the 
presidency of the Society during a period of eighteen 
years, but as he ceased to be a frequent visitor to 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 3 

Philadelphia, after the removal of the Government 
to Washington, the active duties devolved upon Dr. 
Caspar Wistar, who had been chosen a Curator of 
the Society in 1792, and in 1795 a Vice-President. 

Upon Mr. Jefferson's resignation in 1815, Dr. 
Wistar became his successor in an office which he had 
long filled de facto. At that time, and for many an- 
tecedent years, he was the Professor of Anatomy in 
the University of Pennsylvania, a position of pro- 
fessional primacy due to the circumstance that the 
Medical Department of the University was at that 
time the only medical school in the country, and 
the rendezvous for students. Wistar found himself 
one of a faculty adorned by the distinguished names 
of John Morgan, Benjamin Rush, and William 
Shippen, and his own renown as a surgeon was en- 
hanced by his connection with the University of 
Edinburgh, of which he was a graduate, under the 
guidance of the illustrious Cullen. 

Under the vice-presidency and presidency of Dr. 
Wistar The American Philosophical Society became 
the rallying point of the learned world. Not only 
did the American illuminati assemble there, but 



4 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

Baron von Humboldt, the great German scientist 
and traveller; his colleague, M. Aime Bonpland, 
the well-known French naturalist and explorer; M. 
Francois Andre Michaux, the French botanist; M. 
du Pont de Nemours, the French political econo- 
mist; and the famous and witty Abbe Correa de 
Serra, the Minister from Portugal, there mingled 
with our botanists, naturalists, chemists, surgeons, 
doctors, jurists and statesmen. 

William Tilghman, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 
who was Dr. Wistar's eulogist, and his successor as 
President of The American Philosophical Society, 
tells us that Dr. Wistar "was assiduous in attending 
committees. He was one of the first and most strenu- 
ous supporters of the Historical and Literary Com- 
mittee, instituted by the Society about two years ago 
(1816). With what ardour did he excite them to in- 
dustry, in collecting, ere too late, the fleeting mate- 
rials of American history? The meetings of this 
Committee he regularly attended. It was their cus- 
tom, after the business of the evening was con- 
cluded, to enter into an unrestrained conversation 
on literary subjects. There, without intending it. 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 5 

our lamented friend would insensibly take the lead; 
and so interesting were his anecdotes, and so just 
his remarks, that drawing close to the dying embers, 
we often forgot the lapse of time, until warned by 
the unwelcome clock, that we had entered on an- 
other day." 

Such were Doctor Wistar's relations to The 
American Philosophical Society. 

I turn now to his personal characteristics. Hos- 
pitable by nature, he displayed a positive genius 
as a host, which made him the object of affectionate 
homage by his friends who loved to share at his 
own fireside his hours of leisure. This was all the 
easier because the Hall of The American Philosoph- 
ical Society, then but recently erected on the eastern 
edge of the State House Yard at Fifth and Chestnut 
Streets, stood but three blocks away from Wistar's 
house with its ample vine-embowered and tree- 
shaded garden at Fourth and Prune (now Locust) 
Streets. Chief Justice Tilghman, in the Eulogium, 
from which I have already quoted, said: "His 
house was open to men of learning, both citizens 
and strangers; and there is no doubt that at the 



6 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

weekly meetings, which took place under his hos- 
pitable roof, were originated many plans for the 
advancement of science, which were afterwards 
carried into happy effect." Professor David Hosack 
of New York, in an address (26th January, 1818) 
delivered before the students of the College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons of the University of the State 
of New York, said: "As a literary character, few 
men held a more elevated rank, in the estimation of 
all to whom he was known, than Dr. Wistar. Be- 
sides these branches of science more immediately 
connected with the medical profession, as far as his 
duties as a practitioner permitted, he cultivated, 
with great industry and success, almost every de- 
partment of literature. His house was the weekly 
resort of the literati of the City of Philadelphia, 
and at his hospitable board the learned stranger from 
every part of the world, of every tongue and nation, 
received a cordial welcome. ,His urbanity, his 
pleasing and instructive conversation, his peculiar 
talent in discerning and displaying the characteris- 
tic merits and acquirements of those with whom he 
conversed, will be remembered with pleasure by all 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 7 

who have ever enjoyed his society and conversa- 
tion." Dr. Charles Caldwell, Professor of Natural 
History in the University of Pennsylvania, in ad- 
dressing The Philadelphia Medical Society (Febru- 
ary 21, 1818) said: "His dwelling was, at all times, 
the seat of hospitality; and during the winter, the 
weekly resort of his literary friends, in common 
with strangers of distinction who visited the city. 
The company met, without ceremony, on a stated 
evening, where in the midst of a succession of suitable 
refreshments, the time passed away, oftentimes until 
a late hour, in agreeable, varied, and instructive 
discourse. This hospitable and conciliating practice 
contributed not a little to multiply and strengthen 
those attachments to his person, which, to use a tech- 
nical, though not unapt, expression, rendered him, 
at length, a sensorium commune to a very large and 
increasing circle." 

I present two interesting cotemporaneous proofs 
of the character of Dr. Wistar's guests. I show 
you an original letter, entirely in his own hand- 
writing, addressed to B. R. Morgan, Esq., a dis- 
tinguished member of the Philadelphia Bar. It 
reads : 



8 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

Dear Sir: 

Baron Humbold [sic] has returned from Washington and en- 
gaged to spend the evening with us. If you are disengaged I will 
be very happy to see you, and am with great esteem 

Your friend and servant 

C. Wistar^ Jun"". 
Thursday 
June 2 1 St, 1804. 

I show you another original letter. 

My Dear Sir: 

Captain Riley whose travels are so well known to you is here, 
on his way to Washington, and takes his departure to morrow. 
I saw him for the first time this morning & engaged him to sup 
with me. I expect him at 8 this evening & will be very glad 
to see you also. 

With great regard 
I am very truly 
yours 

C. Wistar 
Monday 
Jan'^. 12, 1818 
J. Vaughan Esqr. 

As this letter is dated January 12, 1818, and Dr. 
Wistar died ten days later, after eight days of ill- 
ness, it is probable that this is the last letter of its 
kind that he ever wrote. 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 9 

It is regrettable that we have no reports of the 
conversations of these brilliant and learned gather- 
ings. That Dr. Wistar himself excelled in the art 
of drawling others out, and in contributing his share 
to the general talk is well attested, but that he had 
humor in correspondence is amply proved by his 
letter to Nicholas Biddle, dated April i6, 1813: 
" Two of your friends have led you into a scrape — 
they proposed you as a member of the Philosophical 
Society and you were elected last evening. The 
Society takes into consideration the situation of your 
family and therefore for the present year will only 
require you to discover the means of producing per- 
petual motion — but by the birth of your second 
child, they expect you to produce the Philosopher's 
Stone." (Original letter in the possession of Ed- 
ward Biddle, Esq., a grandson.) 

In the same year the Abbe Correa de Serra (Sep- 
tember 27, 18 13), writing to Dr. Wistar, from Bos- 
ton, significantly said: "The best thing I can do, 
after what has happened since we parted, is to 
go back to my dear Philadelphia, and pass my time 
in the enjoyment of company such as yours. . . . 



10 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

There is no necessity, nor there will be so soon very 
likely, of my going to Europe, and looking on the 
globe I find that no spot except Paris is more to 
my taste than your friendly city, and you must take 
to yourself a good part of its fitness to my taste." 
(Ms. Vol. of Wistar Correspondence in Am. Philos. 
Soc.) The simplicity of these words, so free from 
the exaggerated compliments of foreigners, is the 
best assurance of their sincerity. 

But while we have no direct testimony from an 
ear witness of the actual talk in Dr. Wistar's draw- 
ing room, there is full testimony, and that too from 
the unimpeachable source of Boston, of the charac- 
ter of Philadelphia society in those days. John 
Adams, writing to his wife, as far back as 1776, ob- 
served: "Particular gentlemen here, who have im- 
proved upon their education by travel, shine; but 
in general, old Massachusetts outshines her younger 
sisters. Still in several particulars they have more 
wit than we. They have Societies, the Philosoph- 
ical Society particularly, which excites a scientific 
emulation, and propagates their fame. If ever I 
get through this scene of politics and of war, . . . 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 11 

a philosophical society shall be established at 
Boston, if I have wit and address enough to accom- 
plish it, sometime or other." ("Letters of John 
Adams to his Wife," Vol. i, page 145.) This was 
truly a concession, if not a tribute, but it is from an- 
other Bostonian, writing of Philadelphia society in 
the hey-day of Dr. Wistar's fame, that we derive 
the strongest sidelight. That happy and useful 
man of letters, George Ticknor, the accomplished 
author of a history of Spanish literature, and a pro- 
fessor at Harvard, in some charming autobiograph- 
ical notes, tells us of a visit he paid to Philadelphia 
in January, 1815. He says that "John Vaughan, 
the Secretary of the Philosophical Society took 
charge of me, and made me acquainted with every 
one whom I could desire to know. ... I dined 
with a large party at Mr. David Parish's, and, 
for the first time in my life, saw a full service of 
silver plate, for twenty persons, with all the accom- 
paniments of elegancy and luxury to correspond, 
and a well trained body of servants in full livery. 
But — what was of more interest to me — John Ran- 
dolph was one of the guests. ... I was a good 



12 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

deal at Mr. Hopkinson's, who was distinguished for 
the union of wit, sense, culture, and attractive man- 
ner. . . . His house was one of the most agreeable 
in Philadelphia, for Mrs. Hopkinson was a lady 
of much cultivation and knowledge of the world. 
At their table I met one day a brilliant party of 
eleven or twelve gentlemen. Amongst them were 
Mr. Randolph, the Abbe Correa, Dr. Chapman 
and Mr. Parish. It was an elegant dinner, and 
the conversation was no doubt worthy of such 
guests; but one incident has overshadowed the rest 
of the scene. The Abbe Correa — who was one of 
the most remarkable men of the time, for various 
learning, acuteness, and wit, and for elegant, suave 
manners — had just returned from a visit to Mr. Jef- 
ferson, whom he much liked, and, in giving some 
account of his journey, which on the whole had 
been agreeable, he mentioned that he had been 
surprised at not finding more gentlemen living on 
their plantations in elegant luxury, as he had ex- 
pected. It was quietly said, but Randolph could 
never endure the slightest disparagement of Vir- 
ginia, if ever so just, and immediately said, with 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 13 

some sharpness, 'Perhaps, Mr. Correa, your ac- 
quaintance was not so much with that class of per- 
sons.' Correa, who was as amiable as he was 
polite, answered very quietly, 'Perhaps not; the 
next time I will go down upon the Roanoke, and 
I will visit Mr. Randolph and his friends.' Mr. 
Randolph, who was one of the bitterest of men, 
was not appeased by this intended compliment, 
and said, in the sharpest tones of his high-pitched, 
disagreeable voice, ' In my part of the country, 
gentlemen commonly wait to be invited before they 
make visits.' Correa's equanirrtity was a little dis- 
turbed; his face flushed. He looked slowly round 
the table till every eye was upon him, and then re- 
plied, in a quiet, level tone of voice, — ' Said I not 
well of the gentlemen of Virginia?'" 

While you have the ready and self-possessed 
Correa in mind, let me exhibit to you the original 
Ms. of an obituary notice (Note Necrologique) 
of Dr. Wistar written by his devoted Portuguese 
admirer, in April, 1818. 

Such then was the character of The Philosophical 
Society, such was the character of Dr. Wistar, and 



14 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

such was the character of his guests. With the 
death of Dr. Wistar his delightful parties ended. 
It is now in order to examine the third link in the 
chain which binds the Society and the Wistar Party 
to each other. Mr. Job R. Tyson, who, in 1842, 
wrote a brief sketch of the Wistar Party, says: "To 
call Dr. Caspar Wistar the founder of an Associa- 
tion which was not formed until after his death, has 
the appearance of a solecism. It would perhaps be 
more proper to say that it was owing to his social 
spirit and the example of his unpretending but lib- 
eral hospitality, that a kindred feeling was awak- 
ened which led to its formation." 

Mr. Tyson's conjecture obtains interesting confir- 
mation in a letter written by John Vaughan, the 
Secretary of The Philosophical Society, to Thomas 
Jefferson within a month after Dr. Wistar's death, in 
which he says: "We shall try to keep up the Satur- 
day evening meetings. We proposed the plan to 
Mr. Tilghman, Rawle, N. Biddle, Du Ponceau, R. 
M. Patterson and myself, and to endeavor to see 
strangers of merit passing through. We shall want 
the attractive magnet, but we shall derive pleasure 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 15 

from the attempt, and the recollection of the friend 
who established them, and gave them such inter- 
est." ("Mass. Hist. Coll.," 7th ser., Vol. I, p. 267.) 
The effort proved a success, and in the autumn of 
1818, Chief Justice Tilghman, Dr. Robert M. Pat- 
terson, a pupil in chemistry of Sir Humphrey Davy, 
Peter S. Du Ponceau, the omniscient and omni- 
present master of Indian dialects and of juris- 
prudence, and John Vaughan of those first addressed, 
and Reuben Haines, a votary of science, Robert 
Walsh, Jr., a journalist, Zaccheus Collins, a nat- 
uralist, and Dr. Thomas C. James, the leading prac- 
titioner and teacher of obstetrics, became the 
founders of the Wistar Party. These gentlemen 
agreed each to give three parties every year during 
the season. Within eight years their numbers in- 
creased gradually to twenty-four, the present num- 
ber, and each gave in a prescribed order of succes- 
sion an entertainment during the season. This is 
the present practice. The sumptuary code adopted 
enjoined simplicity if not frugality of entertain- 
ment. This also is in accord with present practice. 
Among the most notable names upon the rolls ap- 



16 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

pear those of Dr. Robert Hare, the renowned inven- 
tor of the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe; Joseph Hopkin- 
son, the author of " Hail Columbia," and for many 
years United States District Judge; Nathaniel 
Chapman, wit as well as physician; Mathew Carey, 
the interesting Irish exile; Nicholas Biddle, the 
President of the United States Bank at the time of 
Jackson's war upon the Bank; Horace Binney, and 
John Sergeant. The man, however, upon whom 
the Association chiefly relied for its success was 
John Vaughan, the philanthropist, whose break- 
fasts in his bachelor quarters in the building of The 
Philosophical Society were the focal point of mem- 
orable mornings. "From 1818 to his demise in 
1842, he assumed the labour of a general charge 
over the concerns of the Association, particularly 
of calling the annual meetings, making out the an- 
nual lists, distributing from week to week the cards 
of invitation, and attending with unremitting as- 
siduity to various minor details. The Association 
is largely indebted to him for his attention to 
strangers, and for a fond and steady devotion to its 
interests and repute." (Mr. Tyson's tribute.) The 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 17 

Rev. William H. Furness, of whose congregation 
Mr. Vaughan was a member, declared: "'He was 
given to hospitality.' In this respect he gave a 
character to our City, and in the minds of hosts of 
strangers from all parts of the country and from 
abroad, the name of Mr. Vaughan represented the 
City as faithfully as its own name 'Brotherly Love.' 
He took pleasure in bringing such persons together 
as, by similarity of tastes or pursuits, would find 
peculiar satisfaction in one another's company." 
Dr. Furness recalls among the guests of that time, 
John Quincy Adams, Dr. Channing, the famous 
pulpit orator, and Albert Gallatin. ("The Lives 
of Eminent Philadelphians, Now Deceased," Simp- 
son.) 

The fame of the Wistar Party was by this time 
far-spread. The Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 
in his "Travels Through North America Dur- 
ing the Years 1825-6" wrote: "At Mr. Walsh's 
I found a numerous assemblage, mostly of scien- 
tific and literary gentlemen. This assembly is called 
a Wistar Party. It is a small, learned circle which 
owes its existence to a Quaker physician, Dr. Wistar, 



18 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

who assembled all the literati and public charac- 
ters of Philadelphia at his house every Saturday 
evening, where all well recommended foreigners 
were introduced. After his death the society was 
continued by his friends with this difiference, that 
they now assemble alternately at the houses of the 
members. The conversation generally relates to 
literary and scientific topics." Captain Basil Hall 
in his "Travels in North America in 1827-28" 
says: "I shall never forget those agreeable and in- 
structive Wistar Parties in Philadelphia." They 
are "meetings well contrived and maintained with 
much spirit." In 1833, Captain Hamilton, in his 
"Men and Manners in America," wrote: "I passed 
an hour or two very agreeably at one of a series of 
meetings, which are called Wistar Parties. . . . 
Their efTect and influence on society must be very 
salutary. These parties bring together men of dif- 
ferent classes and pursuits and promote the free in- 
terchange of opinion, always useful for the correc- 
tion of prejudice. Such intercourse, too, prevents 
the narrowness of thought and exaggerated estimate 
of the value of our own peculiar acquirements, 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 19 

which devotion to one exclusive object is apt to 
engender in those who do not mix freely with the 
world. . . . Philosophers eat like other men, and 
the precaution of an excellent supper is by no means 
found to be superfluous. It acts, too, as a gentle 
emollient in the acrimony of debate. No man can 
say a harsh thing with his mouth full of turkey and 
disputants forget their differences in unity of enjoy- 
ment." Captain Hamilton makes another observa- 
tion which is a complete refutation of the ignorant 
and baseless charge made by the satirical Robert 
Wain and repeated in kind by the jealous and re- 
sentful James Gordon Bennett at a later day. Both 
of these gentlemen had charged that the Wistar 
Party was composed of exclusive aristocrats, who 
would tolerate the companionship of none but their 
own circle. Captain Hamilton declares: "At these 
parties I met several ingenious men of a class some- 
thing below that of ordinary members. When an 
operative mechanic attracts notice by his zeal for 
improvement in any branch of science, he is almost 
uniformly invited to the Wistar meetings. The ad- 
vantage of this policy is obviously very great. A 



20 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

modest and deserving man is brought into notice. 
His errors are corrected, his ardor is stimulated, 
his taste improved, a healthy connection is kept up 
between the different classes of society, and the feel- 
ing of mental sympathy is duly cherished. During 
my stay in Philadelphia I was present at several of 
these Wistar parties and always returned from them 
with increased conviction of their beneficial tend- 
ency." Twenty years later, William Makepeace 
Thackeray, in characteristically whimsical vein, 
wrote to his friend William B. Reed, later Attor- 
ney-General of Pennsylvania, alluding to the sudden 
death of Mr. William Peter, the British Consul, 
and to a letter he had received from Mrs. Peter 
some time before: " Mrs. Peter wrote, saying he was 
ill with influenza; he was in bed with his last illness, 
and there were to be no more Whister parties for 
him. Will Whister himself, hospitable pig-tailed 
shade, welcome him to Hades? And will they sit 
down — no, stand up — to a ghostly supper, de- 
vouring the i^BuLov; i/zv^a? of oysters and all sorts of 
birds?" (Reed's "Haud Immemor.") 

It may be of interest, in passing, to note that the 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 21 

engraved card of invitation ''with the benevolent 
profile of Dr. Wistar so familiar to all our mem- 
bers," as the late Henry Charles Lea described it, 
was adopted in 1835 and has since then been uni- 
formly used. 

Following the death of Mr. Vaughan, in 1842 a 
more definite organization than had theretofore 
prevailed was effected. On the call of the vener- 
able Peter S. Du Ponceau, one of the original mem- 
bers, and in the form presented by United States 
District Judge John K. Kane, a written Constitu- 
tion, containing but six brief articles, and printed 
upon two thirds of a single page, was adopted. 
The executive officer was called the Dean, and mem- 
bers were to be unanimously chosen from the rolls 
of the Philosophical Society. Members failing to 
attend the annual meetings and omitting to declare 
their intention to continue might be considered to 
have resigned. 

Mr. Vaughan's successor as Dean was Isaac Lea, 
who had married the daughter of Mathew Carey, 
and conducted a large publishing business, still in 
the hands of his descendants, and who was, at the 



22 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

time, particularly distinguished for his knowledge 
of conchology and later was President of the Aca- 
demy of Natural Sciences. He filled the office by 
annual re-elections until the suspension of the Asso- 
ciation in 1861, except during a prolonged absence 
abroad, when in 1852-3 he was replaced by Mr. J. 
J. Vander Kemp, and in 1853-4 by Mr. Job R. 
Tyson. It was due to Mr. Lea's methodical habits 
that a Minute Book was introduced, and the volume 
is still in use as a record of the election of members 
and of the action taken at the annual meetings. 

During this second period in the life of the 
Wistar Party the most notable among its members 
were Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, Isaac Lea, Judge 
Kane, William M. Meredith, President Taylor's 
Secretary of the Treasury, Dr. George B. Wood of 
the chair of Materia Medica in the University of 
Pennsylvania, Dr. Isaac Hays, the accomplished 
Editor of Hays's Medical Journal, the renowned sci- 
entist, especially distinguished for his labors in the 
Coast Survey, Alexander Dallas Bache, and the po- 
litical economist, Henry C. Carey. The dark days 
of the Civil War, so full of overwhelming anxiety 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 23 

and of passion, discouraged social enjoyments, and 
on motion of Professor Henry Coppee, of the chair 
of literature in the University of Pennsylvania, in 
September, 1861, it was ''Resolved, That owing to 
the present unhappy condition of the country, the 
Wistar Parties be postponed during this season." 
Similar action was had in 1862 and 1863. Many 
members resigned, others died. In 1865, the only 
members present at the annual meeting were Dr. 
Hays and Mr. Isaac Lea; in 1866, only Dr. George 
W. Norris and Mr. Lea. At last, the only surviving 
members were Mr. Moncure Robinson and Mr. 
Lea, and even the annual meetings were discon- 
tinued. 

Many shortlived efforts to maintain the old 
social life were attempted through the Union Club, 
the parent of the Union League; the Saturday 
Club, which, lacking restrictions upon the char- 
acter of entertainments, led to an undesirable sump- 
tuousness; and the Fortnightly Club, which, though 
resembling the old Wistar Party in moderation of 
the table, lacked the tie of membership in The 
Philosophical Society. 



24 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

Finally, in 1886, the venerable Moncure Robin- 
son and Isaac Lea, the only surviving members, both 
far advanced in years and confined to their homes, 
revived the Wistar Party by concurrent written 
action electing to membership Dr. Caspar Wister, 
William Sellers, Horace Howard Furness, the Hon. 
Craig Biddle, Dr. William Pepper, Professor Fair- 
man Rogers, Henry Charles Lea and Dr. Francis W. 
Lewis. These gentlemen met in December, 1886, 
and reorganized. To complete their membership 
they rescinded the rule as to membership in The 
Philosophical Society, and elected their colleagues 
of the Fortnightly Club, which then went out of 
existence. They also increased the official staff by 
adding an Executive Committee of three to the office 
of Dean. This is the present establishment. The 
Dean chosen was the greatest of our scholars and 
philosophic historians, Henry Charles Lea. At an 
adjourned meeting in March, 1898, the eligibility 
rule as to membership in The Philosophical So- 
ciety was restored, and is still in force. 

In speaking of this reorganization, which 
marked the third and present period of the Wistar 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 25 

Party, Mr. Lea has written: "Thus adapted to the 
social needs of the present day the reorganized 
Wistar Party feels the assurance that it worthily 
upholds the traditions which it has inherited and 
that a strict adherence to the simplicity prescribed 
in the rules and solicitude in gathering at its recep- 
tions all that is best in the intellectual activity of 
Philadelphia, will enable its members to hand down 
to their successors in the long future an institution 
which, in its modest way, has made a contribution 
not wholly without significance to the fair repute 
which the city of its birth so deservedly enjoys." 
It remains but to add that Mr. Lea continued 
most diligently to fulfill the expectations of his 
friends. His zeal to the last was unabated. " Age 
did not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety" 
of intellectual accomplishments. For twenty-three 
years he trod the paths worn by the footsteps of his 
predecessors. For ninety years the Wistar Party 
had but three Deans. Such length of tenure, and 
such continuity of service were favorable to the 
growth of traditions and of customs which are now 
venerable and venerated, and which it is hoped will 
remain inviolable. 



26 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

The third period of our existence has been marked 
by the old brilliancy of membership and guests. 
We have seen that ornament of scholarship and of 
incomparable literary gifts, Horace Howard Fur- 
ness, in the midst of his Shakespeareana; we have 
seen Mr. Lea surrounded by the rarest of libraries 
whispering from its shelves the mysteries of the 
Middle Ages and the most recondite learning; we 
have listened to the epigrams of Judge Biddle who 
concisely declared that " Saturday night was a 
gentleman's night out" and that "In America a 
man's family portraits were as often acquired by 
purchase as by descent." We have listened to Dr. 
Persifor Frazer explaining to Chief Justice Mitchell 
that the Biblical expression "when the salt hath lost 
its savor" necessarily implied that in the days of 
old there was a gang grocer who mixed his salt with 
marble dust; we have heard the sturdy Isaac J. 
Wistar tell of the early lawlessness in California 
which he had witnessed as a member of the Vigi- 
lance Committees of '49 and '50; we have relished 
the pungent sarcasm of Henry C. Chapman, who 
inherited the traits of his grandfather; we have felt 



The Centenary of the Wistar Party 27 

the indomitable force of that giant of trans-continen- 
tal railway construction, Alexander J. Cassatt; and 
we have not ceased to miss the keen and judicious 
criticisms of current events by that man of stately 
figure and commanding presence, Samuel Dickson, 
or by the warm-hearted, hard-headed, sagacious man 
of affairs, George F. Baer, who, after winning re- 
nown at the bar, became the successful president of 
the Reading Railroad Company. We have seen 
Stanley, the daring explorer of the Dark Continent, 
conversing with Mark Twain, and Frederick D. 
Stone, the accomplished Librarian of the Historical 
Society, exchanging views of George Bancroft's 
latest revision with James Russell Lowell, and 
we have listened to Nansen and Melville, the con- 
querours of ice packs in the North, discussing their 
adventures with Benjamin Harris Brewster and 
Wayne MacVeagh, Attorneys-General of the United 
States. We recall too that when our former mem- 
ber — the now venerable George F. Edmunds, who 
greets us on this occasion from Pasadena — so dis- 
tinguished as a Senator of the United States from 
Vermont — first came to Philadelphia, he was much 



28 The Centenary of the Wistar Party 

lionized and many sought introductions. Among 
these was a "vehemently vocal" man, as Hall 
Caine would have called him, who in deep tones 
exclaimed: "Ah, Senator Edmunds — very happy 
to meet you, Sir; very happy to meet you. I have 
always regarded you as the model Senator — the 
model Senator, Sir." "Yes," said Mr. Edmunds, 
looking down with a twinkling eye from his tower- 
ing height, "a model is usually a small representa- 
tion of a very big thing." 

Following the death of Mr. Lea in 1909, Mr. 
Samuel Dickson, for twelve years the Chancellor 
of the Law Association of Philadelphia, was chosen 
Dean. ,He, too, was a vigilant guardian of our rules, 
but death claimed him in 1915. The present Dean, 
Dr. L Minis Hays, succeeded him. We all know 
how dear to his heart are the days of the past, and 
upon his unswerving loyalty we base our confidence 
in the future. 

The names of the present members are upon the 
card of invitation for this evening. They are the 
hosts of this occasion, and in their names I now 
bid our guests to partake of a Wistar Party Supper 
in strict accordance with the rules. 



ROLL OF THE WISTAR PARTY 

1818-1918 



MEMBERS 

D. Hayes Agnew 1887-1890 

Richard L. Ashhurst 1894-1911 

Alexander Dallas Bache 1839-1844 

Franklin Bache 1844-1864 

George F. Baer 1903-1914 

Edwin Swift Balch 1910 

Thomas Willing Balch 1916 

Charles F. Beck 1856-1859 

John Bell 1841-1850 

A. Sydney Biddle 1888-1891 

Arthur Biddle 1893-1897 

Clement C. Biddle 1824-1839 

Craig Biddle 1886-1908 

Ni'cholas Biddle 1821-1842 

Thomas Biddle 1828-1834, 1836-1838, 1843-1849 

Horace Binney 1824-1826 

George Tucker Bispham 1886-1906 

Edward S. Buckley 1891-1904 

29 



30 The Roll of the Wistar Party 

John Cadwalader 1893 

Richard M. Cadwalader 1887-1896 

Thomas Cadwalader 1828-1829 

Henry C. Carey 1 834-1 842, 1 849-1 879 

Mathew Carey 1 821-1838 

Henry Carleton 1 860-1 863 

Hampton L. Carson 1896— 1902, 1905 

Alexander J. Cassatt 1 902-1 906 

Henry C. Chapman 1 898-1900 

Nathaniel Chapman 1 821-1849 

Langdon Cheves 1821-1826 

Edward H. Coates 1891-1894 

Edward Coles 1 844-1 865 

Edward Coles (Jr.) 1900-1906 

Zaccheus Collins 1818-1831 

Henry Coppee 1 859-1 865 

John C. Cresson 1 855-1 861 

T. DeWitt Cuyler 1895 

Jacob M. DaCosta 1888-1898 

Charles E. Dana 1 902-1904 

William P. Dewees 1 821-1834 

Samuel Dickson 1 887-1 91 5 

Samuel Henry Dickson 1 860-1 872 

William H. Dillingham 1 844-1 847 

Russell Duane 1914 

James Dundas 1856-1865 

Robley Dunglison 1 839-1 841, 1 842-1 866 



The Roll of the Wistar Party 31 

Thomas Dunlap 1 839-1 864 

Nathan Dunn 1 836-1 840 

Peter S. Du Ponceau 1818-1842 

Alfred Langdon Elwyn 1 844-1 852, 1 854-1 855 

George F. Edmunds 1897-1902 

George Harrison Fisher 1 887-1 896 

Joshua Francis Fisher 1834-1841, 1851-1873 

John F. Frazer 1 844-1 854 

Persifor Frazer 1 887-1909 

William W. Frazier 1889 

Horace Howard Furness 1 886-1 893 

William H. Furness 1915 

William Gibson 1 826-1 841 

Samuel D. Gross 1 860-1 884 

Reuben Haines 1818- ? 

Robert Hare 1819-1858 

Thomas Harris 1828-1834, 1835-1836, 1838-1840 

William Harris 1 839-1840 

Charles C. Harrison 1886 

Isaac Hays 1 844-1 879 

L Minis Hays 1887 

Morton P. Henry 1886-1893 

Hugh L. Hodge 1 837-1 862 

Joseph Hopkinson 1 821-1835 

William E. Horner .... 1 828-1 839, 1 840-1844, 1 846-1 853 



32 The Roll of the Wistar Party 

Charles J. Ingersoll 1 828-1 829 

Joseph R. Ingersoll 1827-1829, 1850-1854 

Samuel Jackson 1 841-1844 

Thomas C. James 1818-1826, 1 828-1 830 

Henry LaBarre Jayne 1909 

Horace Jayne 1897-1909 

Alba B. Johnson 1914 

John K. Kane 1828-1858 

William W. Keen 1910 

C. Hartman Kuhn 1897 

Rene LaRoche 1 829-1 836 

Arthur H. Lea 1912 

Henry Charles Lea 1886-1909 

Isaac Lea 1828-1886 

Robert G. LeConte 1907 

James B. Leonard 1898-1899 

Francis W. Lewis 1 886-1 902 

John Frederick Lewis 1909 

J. Dundas Lippincott 1886-1905 

George A. McCall 1856-1859 

William Mcllvaine 1828-1838 

Thomas McKean 1886-1897 

Richard C. McMurtrie 1886-1894 

Charles D. Meigs 1 829-1 839, 1 843-1 845, 1 849-1 854 



The Roll of the Wistar Party 33 

William Meredith 1821-1839 

William M. Meredith 1841-1849, 1850-1857 

Samuel V. Merrick 1 835-1 843, 1 855-1 870 

E. Coppee Mitchell 1886-1887 

John K. Mitchell 1828-1842 

Israel Wistar Morris 1 894-1 909 

John T. Morris 1911-1915 

Thomas D. Miitter 1852-1856 

John S. Newbold 1886-1887 

George W. Norris 1 852-1 875 

William F. Norris ' 1886-1895 

Joseph Pancoast 1855-1882 

Robert M. Patterson 1818-1828, 1 835-1 853 

J. Rodman Paul 1905-1914 

Charles B. Penrose 1915 

R. A. F. Penrose, Jr 1909 

George Wharton Pepper 1 904-191 7 

William Pepper 1 853-1 858 

William Pepper (2d) ' 1886-1898 

Charles Piatt 1886-1902 

Samuel Powel 1858-1885 

Eli K. Price 191 7 

Jacob Randolph 1 840-1 841, 1 842-1 846 

William Rawle 1841-1845, 1846-1848 

William Brooke Rawle 1906-191 1 

William Henry Rawle 1887-1888 



34 The Roll of the Wistar Party 

Samuel Rea 1914 

Benjamin W. Richards 1839-1851 

Moncure Robinson 1 836-1 840, 1 844-1 886 

Fairman Rogers 1886-1888 

Robert E. Rogers 1 856-1 860 

Joseph G. Rosengarten 1899 

William Sellers 1886-1897 

John Sergeant 1 824-1 826 

George Sharswood 1 859-1 866 

Wharton Sinkler 1902-1910 

Alfred Stille 1856-1865 

William Strickland 1 829-1 840 

William Tilghman 181 8-1 827 

Charlemagne Tower 1 896-1 897, 1 909 

James Tyson I906— 1916 

Job R. Tyson 1836-1858 

John J. Vander Kemp 1 840-1 850, 1 851-1856 

John Vaughan 1818-1841 

Roberts Vaux 1 828-1 830 

Henry Vethake 1 844-1 850 

Tobias Wagner 1 850-1856 

Robert Walsh 1818-1835 

Thomas U. Walter 1840-1841 

John Price Wetherill 1828-1853 



The Roll of the Wistar Party 35 

George M. Wharton 1854-1859 

Thomas L Wharton 1830-1856 

Henry J. Williams 1844-1855 

James C. Wilson 1904 

Joseph M. Wilson 1898-1902 

Isaac J. Wistar 1887-1905 

Caspar Wister 1886-1889 

George B. Wood 1836-1879 

Stuart Wood 1902-1914 



HONORARY MEMBERS 

Peter S. Du Ponceau 1842-1844 

Nathaniel Chapman j.849-1853 

Robert M. Patterson 1853-1854 

Moncure Robinson 1886-1891 

Craig Biddle 1908-1910 



36 The Roll of the Wistar Party 



OFFICERS 

DEAN 

John Vaughan 1818-1841 

Isaac Lea 1 842-1 852, 1 854-1 886 

*J. J. Vander Kemp 1 852-1 853 

*J. R. Tyson 1853-1854 

Henry Charles Lea 1 886-1 909 

Samuel Dickson 1909— 1915 

L Minis Hays 1915 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

Francis W. Lewis 1 887-1 902 

Thomas McKean , 1 887-1 897 

William Pepper 1887-1898 

Charles Piatt 1 898-1 902 

Samuel Dickson 1 898-1 909 

I. Minis Hays 1902-1915 

Isaac J. Wistar 1 902-1 905 

Israel Wistar Morris 1905-1910 

Joseph G. Rosengarten 1909 

William Brooke Rawle 1910-191 1 

Hampton L. Carson 191 1 

Charlemagne Tower 1915 

* In the absence in Europe of Mr. Isaac Lea. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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